Open Access, Easy Access, Free Access.
- Cater for all visitors. Make the site easy to navigate for lay users (who will otherwise get confused between different brands of the same generic preparation). Do not make things difficult for the professionals who also use the site.
- License the information under a Creative Commons License.
- Store the data in an open format, and allow the user to convert it into a useful and accessible format.
- DO NOT REQUIRE the use of COOKIES, or randomly generated URL's which change with time.
Why the contribution is important
Background:
- I am a pharmacist. I use the Electronic Medicines Compendium on a *very* regular basis.
- I am a web-site designer, with a specialist interest in accessibility for the disabled.
EMC has become awful since the last site redesign. *If* the MHRA goes ahead with this, please do not waste the potential opportunity, and create a compromised mish-mash.
SPC and PILs are currently already a mandatory requirement prior to licensing. The contents of these documents should be released under a Creative Commons license. This is already in use at the UK Govt Data site.
Removal of copyright restriction (as currently exists) solves so many problems. With the current system, try dispensing 14 days of Florinef tablets. Since they come in packs of 100, you have to break a pack. No problems there, but you now are required to include a PIL.
Challenge: Go on. Give it a go. Really...
When you have given up trying to print the PDF in a size and format that is actually readable, you could try to provide a copy of the "print friendly" version...
... at 9 pages long.
Most people at this point give up. Obviously, you can't provide the original (or photocopy it), because it has already been given to someone else (or got lost). Oh well, it is only a minor contravention of law...
Alternatively, if you are technically capable (and have too much time on your hands), you could "cut-and-paste", and then format the document into a simple 2-sided document. Maybe even save it for later use. (On the old EMC, I had a script that would do this automatically).
Ahh, except that this breaks copyright law, and you are not allowed to do that.
Catch-22. How are you going to act unprofessionally, today?
Not acceptable!
Statutory information should not be restricted. If I am blind, and there is no braille version, how are you going to help me? Statutory requirements to provide a braille or a large-print version upon request is not the answer (and is unnecessarily expensive). It can be done automatically, with an XML Stylesheet. Remove copyright restrictions, and I can (legally) put it on A5 paper. or A4. Or anything that the patient finds helpful and convenient, like an automatic screen reader.
(Remember that the MHRA is also subject to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005)
Which brings me to my next point: That of URL's.
Do not use dynamic URL's. Do not require a cookie to navigate to a page. And, especially, do not use any of those nasty Javascript tricks. If I can't navigate the site using Lynx, then it is no good. By all means make it better, and more attractive and user-friendly using whatever means you like - but do not *require* the user to conform to your specifications.
Make the URL predictable.
- http://www.example.com/info/PL-0289/5060R/PIL
to take me to the PIL for Codeine Phosphate 15mg Tablets (Teva), for example. I can then do all sorts of fancy things. If I was a manufacturer, I could do some *really* clever things with this. (If anyone is interested, I can be hired to work on this.)
There are loads more comments - too many for a single post. Get the basics right, and you can work on the rest later.
May I get off my soap-box, now?